REVIEW: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice finally gives the epic battle between the Son of Krypton and The Dark Knight of Gotham. Beginning right after the destruction of Metropolis during Man of Steel, the confrontation between these two heroes begins to heat up. However, this film does not come to us without problems. Can director, Zack Snyder, give us a movie that we deserve, or are we left with a film that is not worth our time or money?

Now, before I get into the problems, let me talk about the things that I liked about this movie. Agree with me or not, Ben Affleck proved all those haters (including myself) wrong. I think Affleck did a fantastic job not only playing the Caped Crusader, but also playing the role of Bruce Wayne. Affleck put so much into this role and ended up pulling it off. Kudos to him! But it was Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman that really shined. Her role as the heroic goddess, though short, made an impact on the overall film, and she also kicked ass during the final fight scenes. I am defiantly looking forward to her “origin story” film that will come out in 2017.

Though some aspects of the film were entertaining, there were more than a few things that I didn’t like. For instance, Henry Cavill’s portrayal as Superman was just so wooden. And times where he has to be emotional, he overacted. Which brings me to the point, some of those scenes that were supposed to be emotional, came off as cheesy or unbelievable. I couldn’t help but laugh at some of those scenes, including the beginning montage, which in my opinion, seemed rather forced. But as much as I liked Batman, there were a few problems with his character. So Batman just kills everyone now? I had begun to think about Batman’s lack morale, early in the film. However, it was during an action packed fight scene when Batman stabs a man in the chest, because now Batman was the one wielding the knife and the criminal stood defenseless. But what makes Batman so good is the teetering between good and bad. But due to his morale, Batman saves the good people of Gotham from the people he could easily become. But at times I felt that Batman became less and less relevant in the film, especially when Wonder Woman came into the film. There’s one scene where Wonder Woman and Superman are fighting a “villain” (no spoilers). But as the scene progressed, I couldn’t help but wonder where was Batman’s contribution to this fight?

It is, however, the film’s plot that really lacked making Batman V Superman into a great movie. There were times where the editing or transitions did not make sense. This made the film seem clunky, where a film like this should flow seamlessly. One part in particular was when it went from a fast paced scene, to all of a sudden a scene where we’re your looking at Bruce Wayne walking by a gravestone in slow motion. But to be honest, that is how Snyder likes to direct, lots of slow motion. Hopefully the Ultimate Edition of Batman V Superman, which will come out later on blu-ray, will hopefully prove to be seamless and complete.

I can’t give this film too bad of a rating. It was actually fun to watch. But some of that fun factor was lost in the poor editing and overall plot of the film. Now, if you’re looking for an epic Batman movie, you will be disappointed. Not because of Affleck, but because this film is mostly about Superman and how great he is. This film should have been called, Man of Steel 2: Superman Hates Batman, because it was just the two heroes exhibiting how much they hated one another. But even with its problems, Batman V Superman should not have garnered so much hate. This is an entertaining film that is definitely worth watching.